Bitcoin ATM shoots hundreds of £20 notes out into London station | UK | News

The bold recipient stood idly with his hands in his pockets during rush hour on the London Underground, watching the notes waft in and around the bag. He nonchalantly shuffled a pile of notes that had missed the bag back towards the target as commuters gazed on astounded. A security guard soon appeared to block the area in case any pilfering members of the public decided to nab a note or two.

The Polish company that owns the machine said that it started spewing out notes because a customer was withdrawing a large amount of money.

It also insisted that the machine did not randomly start discharging the £20 notes.

He told the Sun: “As you can see there is a bag in the front of the ATM.

“However our ATMs support large transactions and it is fair to say that a larger, redesigned presenter would be a good solution.

“Our customer was not particularly careful, although the ATM should be redesigned to cope better with small denominations used in the UK.”

Bitcoin could be on the verge of smashing through record high prices of $20,000 this year, but still remains extremely vulnerable to a massive collapse due to its historic instability, cryptocurrency experts have warned.

The cryptocurrency, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in January, suffered a horrific 2018, completely collapsing in price to $3,000 having hit record highs of nearly $20,000 just 12 months earlier.

But 2019 has seen bitcoin threatening a return to past glories, with the cryptocurrency undergoing a huge revival that as seen its price more than double to $8,000.

Several global banks and technology companies are investing time and money into developing their own cryptocurrencies, which has renewed the interest in bitcoin, with experts enthusing this could just be the beginning of its latest success.

Simon Peters, analyst at global multi-asset investment platform eToro, told Express.co.uk: “Companies like Facebook and JP Morgan experimenting with their own cryptos and major retailers such as AT&T and Whole Foods accepting bitcoin has got investors excited again.

“The gains have made bitcoin one of the best-performing asset classes of the year so far. It could very well be the beginning of another steep rise.”

Marie Tatibouet, chief marketing officer of cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io, described 2018 as a “year of reflection” for bitcoin, with several large countries now accelerating regulation for the cryptocurrency.

She told Express.co.uk: “There has also been some positive movement on regulation, with countries pushing forward regulation (France, South Korea, possibly the EU).

“Regulation is a huge question mark when it comes to cryptocurrency, and it is one of the main factors in Bitcoin’s volatility. Once regulations are set, we are likely to experience a stabilisation.”